PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Senior
Austin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow / Lincoln College of NE) dropped a career-high 32 points in Saturday's Northeast-10 Conference matchup, but the Pace University men's basketball team was unable to pick up the win in a tight game, falling to Adelphi University by a score of 93-85 at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
MOFUNANYA'S BIG DAY
- Mofunanya's 32 points nearly doubled his previous high with the Setters of 18 points, which he set twice last year in games against Franklin Pierce University and American International College.
- He just missed his second straight double-double with nine rebounds on the day, and dished out a career-best four assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- Adelphi caught fire early on, and a three by Nick Cambio gave the Panthers an 18-9 lead at the 13:36 mark.
- Graduate student
Christian White (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute / Syracuse University) started the comeback with a three the next time down the court.
- Mofunanya then made a layup after being set up by White to cut the deficit to four.
- White then capitalized on a steal by sophomore
Luke McLaughlin (Blauvelt, NY/Tappan Zee), laying one in to make it a two-point game.
- Adelphi's Michael Coffey halted Pace's run for a moment but drawing a foul, but made just 1-of-2 shots to improve the Panther lead to three.
- Mofunanya then put another off the glass to get Pace within a point.
- After Jack Laffey missed a jumper for the Panthers, the Setters sprinted down the court, and freshman
Ray Montilus (Union, NJ/Pope John XXII) fed Mofunanya for a slam dunk to give Pace a 20-19 lead.
- The lead did not last long, as Conor McGuinness quickly sank a three for the Panthers to put them back up by two with 9:49 left in the first.
- Mofunanya kept rolling with the hot hand, scoring again to tie the game, and then coming down the court on the next possession and scoring two more points to give the Setters a 24-22 edge with 8:51 to go in the half.
- Laffey quickly hit a three to take the lead back for Adelphi, but White returned the favor with a triple of his own to make it 27-25 in favor of the Setters.
- McGuinness made a pair of threes within a minute of each other to help the Panthers reclaim the lead by a point.
- Freshman
Peyton Wejnert (Point Pleasant, NJ/Southern Regional) fired back with a three, but Adelphi's Austin Beech made one as well to keep the Panthers on top.
- Mofunanya hit a layup to give Pace a 36-35 lead, and started a 7-0 run that was capped off with a three by sophomore
Ryan Peterson (Wethersfield, CT/St. Thomas More) to push Pace's lead to six.
- Both teams traded points the rest of the half, with Mofunanya scoring the final two with 10 seconds left to lead Pace to a 45-39 lead at the break.
HALFTIME LEADERS
- Mofunanya dominated the opening frame to the tune of 18 points and five rebounds.
- White added a pair of threes and a total of 12 points by halftime.
- McGuinness led the Panthers with 12 points at the half.
SECOND HALF
- Adelphi quickly scored the first four points of the half to get within two, but Peterson drained a jumper to keep Pace on top by four.
- Coffey later hit a layup to tie the game at 49-49.
- Mofunanya gave Pace the lead again with a pair of free throws, but Adelphi came right back with five straight points to claim a 54-51 advantage.
- Peterson then closed the gap with a game-tying three, making it 54-54 with 14:23 to play.
- Peterson later hit a layup to give the Setters a 57-56 lead.
- Adelphi then went on an 8-0 run, including back-to-back threes by McGuinness and Coffey, to jump out to a 64-57 lead.
- Adelphi's lead grew to as many as 11 points, and the Panthers held an 84-74 advantage with just 3:04 on the clock.
- Peterson started a rally with a jumper, and then Montilus forced a three-point play after drawing a foul on a layup, narrowing the gap at 84-79.
- Mofunanya then powered through the lane to add two more, bringing Pace within three at the 1:43 mark.
- Manny Suarez made a pair of foul shots for the Panthers, but Mofunanya once again made an impressive play to score two more and bring the game back within three points.
- Suarez was sent to the line once again with 47.5 on the clock, and he made both chances to stretch the Panther lead to five.
- The Setters were unable to connect from long range, and they were forced to foul Coffey.
- He made both shots to make it a seven-point game with 35 seconds left.
- White drew a foul, and made both shots to get Pace back within five, but those would be the final points for the Setters, as Adelphi added three more down the stretch to take home an eight-point win.
SETTER STATS
- Mofunanya scored 14 more points in the second half to reach his new career-high of 32.
- Peterson netted 14 points in the second frame, reaching a total of 20 for the afternoon, including four three-pointers.
- White finished up with a season-high 17 points and dished out a team-best five assists.
PANTHER LEADERS
- Coffey tallied 22 points in the second half to finish with a team-leading 27
- McGuinness finished with a double-double, scoring 21 points and passing out a game-high 11 assists. He also had three steals.
- Beech scored 17 points and added seven helpers, while Laffey and Suarez each picked up 11 points.
RECORDS
- Pace: 4-6 (1-5 NE10)
- Adelphi: 8-3 (4-2 NE10)
UP NEXT
- Saturday's matchup was the Setters' final NE10 contest of December.
- Pace returns to action on Monday, Dec. 12, when they travel down to Wilmington, Del. to take on Goldey-Beacom College in non-conference play. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.
For all information regarding Pace University men's basketball log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com and follow Pace men's basketball on Twitter (
@PaceMBB).
